Is there times when it is okay? I do think sometimes it definitely cheapens the name. Adding in a y instead of an i is weird for me. But I do like spelling [name]May[/name] like [name]Mae[/name]. For some reason it makes it feel more like a name to me. What do you think about changing spellings?
I don’t care for spelling changes. Especially for a child it can be challenging and confusing. Multiple questions throughout their life too.
Spelling changes, imo, is up to you. Personally, I feel there are some names where it’s totally fine i.e [name]Brice[/name]/[name]Bryce[/name], I prefer the Y. Something like [name]Olivia[/name] to Alivyah, is something i’m not a huge fan of. But again, totally up to you, you’re the one who gives birth to the child! But yes, you will also have to deal with the confusion and questions later in life if you do decide some extreme spelling changes! 
Sometimes it’s fine (like [name]Mae[/name] or [name]May[/name]), but creative spellings generally aren’t great, in my opinion.
I have no problem whatsoever with minor spelling changes. Replacing one letter with a y or adding an extra l is certainly no big deal to me, but trying to go from [name]Cadence[/name] to Khey’Dynnse is a bit much. It doesn’t even look like the same name. [name]Abigail[/name] to [name]Abigayle[/name], no big deal. [name]Jonathan[/name] to Jhonnathynne, kinda ridiculous.
I usually don’t approve, for the obvious reasons. But sometimes the spelling change adds a certain memorable pizzazz. There’s a berry who named her son [name]Seven[/name], only she added the [name]Roman[/name] numeral VII in the middle to spell it Seviien. Thats pretty rad.
Aha! I saw Seviien in that [name]Berry[/name]'s signature and hadn’t yet figured it out. Interesting…
To answer the question, yes, there are times when it’s okay with me. I go especially easy on names that have several longstanding variations, like [name]May[/name]/[name]Mae[/name], [name]Marian[/name]/[name]Marion[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name]/[name]Kathryn[/name]. But in my opinion, it cheapens [name]Caitlin[/name] to spell it Kaytlynn (and I have seen this spelling in real life.) Kaytlynn doesn’t look jazzy and creative, it looks illiterate. Another problem with the proliferation of different spellings is the fact that everyone, even the people whose names are spelled normally, must now be asked how they spell their names.
[name]Even[/name] if you choose a traditional spelling, people will misspell your child’s name! It is annoying, but inevitable. Therefore, I don’t think alternative spellings are a cardinal sin. If you choose an alternative spelling, at least choose something phonetic and not overly wrought with extraneous letters.
I prefer traditional spellings all the way. Changing [name]Allison[/name] to [name]Allyson[/name] or [name]Mason[/name] to Massun doesn’t make the name any more special. I’d much rather see an obscure name rooted with history spelled the traditional way than a popular name tweaked to seem more unique.
I do like [name]May[/name] spelled [name]Mae[/name]. I think its sweet. In general I like traditional spellings. Sometimes names have traditional more than one spelling like [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name]. Or [name]May[/name]/[name]Mae[/name]. or [name]Amy[/name]/[name]Aimee[/name]. Anyway in general I would stay with the usual spellings unless you have reason for changing spellings. For example, I knew somone who named her children [name]Emilee[/name] and Natilee (twins) who were born after her grandfather [name]Lee[/name] died and she wanted to honor him.
I think that for many names there are often multiple different spellings acceptable in many different countries and inspired by the writing and spelling traditions of different cultures (let’s call them “alternatives”). I’m all for allowing different “alternatives” like [name]Alessandra[/name], [name]Aleksandra[/name], [name]Alexandra[/name]. I however dislike it when it looks like a letter jumble in your kids name. If it’s something as simple as an i instead of a y, it’s not a bit deal but once it’s impossible to correctly pronounce the name with simple phonetics, then I really have a problem and think it could be a rather annoying burden to carry.
[To answer the question, yes, there are times when it’s okay with me. I go especially easy on names that have several longstanding variations, like [name]May[/name]/[name]Mae[/name], [name]Marian[/name]/[name]Marion[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name]/[name]Kathryn[/name]. But in my opinion, it cheapens [name]Caitlin[/name] to spell it Kaytlynn (and I have seen this spelling in real life.) Kaytlynn doesn’t look jazzy and creative, it looks illiterate. Another problem with the proliferation of different spellings is the fact that everyone, even the people whose names are spelled normally, must now be asked how they spell their names.[/QUOTE]
This exactly! Especially the last part.
Traditional spellings, but there is the one exception of the name [name]Mackenzie[/name].
The name [name]Mackenzie[/name] for example, I’ve seen spelled countless ways. [name]Mckenzie[/name], [name]Makenzie[/name], [name]Mackenzie[/name]. And [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name] and [name]Kate[/name]/[name]Cate[/name].Then you have the “Creative” spin off of [name]Emily[/name]. [name]Emilee[/name], [name]Emiley[/name].
If the name is uber-popular such as [name]Emily[/name], don’t change the spelling.
there’s also [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Zoey[/name]. I prefer it with no y.
Then there’s the game called “Let’s see how many different ways we can spell [name]Katelynn[/name]!”
[name]Katelynn[/name], [name]Katelyn[/name], [name]Caitlynn[/name], [name]Caitlyn[/name], [name]Caitlin[/name], [name]Catelynn[/name], [name]Catelyn[/name].
There’s so many. 
Stick to the traditional spelling.
Is it that hard?
Sometimes I prefer a different spelling e.g. [name]Kathryn[/name] instead of [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Kaitlyn[/name] instead of [name]Caitlin[/name], [name]Mae[/name] instead of [name]May[/name] but I agree, adding useless letters to make the name sound ‘yooneek’ just makes it sound cheap. Although sometimes there is a nice reason for choosing a different spelling. My aunt’s mother died a few years before my cousin was born. My aunt named her daughter Caytlyn and my aunt’s brother named his [name]Madalyn[/name] to honour the mother ([name]Lynn[/name])
I think [name]Mae[/name]/[name]May[/name] are equally acceptable and familiar forms, like [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name] or [name]Rebecca[/name]/[name]Rebekah[/name]. In terms of “changing” spellings in the sense of trying to think of a “new” way to spell a known name in an unknown way… like Maiye, Cathreynne, or Rebbecka… no. [name]Just[/name] no. I feel like parents do that to satisfy their own sense of creativity without thinking about what it will be like for the child to live with a misspelled name. As an adult who works with children, kre8iv spellings are a huge pet peeve for me. It just seems disrespectful to the actual human who will be wearing the name forever for the parents to create an unnecessary difficulty by choosing to express their artistic sides with the spelling. There are a lot of other ways to be creative and artistic when raising a child, but to me, the name spelling isn’t one of them.
What a great post! I definitely prefer certain spellings to others, but as long as it is considered a word in Microsoft, I’m okay with it. I do hate it though when people stick in unnecessary letters and replaces 'I’s with 'Y’s and such. It seems trashy to me.
I think it depends, because I really like the look of a and e together (ae) and o and e together (oe) and ph instead of f, so I don’t mind if ay sounds like in [name_f]May[/name_f], are spelt [name_f]Mae[/name_f]. I also like [name_m]Sylas[/name_m] instead of [name_m]Silas[/name_m], and creative spellings only really irritate me, if the name looks nothing like the original, or adds loads of unnecessary letters.